"O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is Informed of what ye do." [Al-maeda ,8]

By TONY RIZZO

The Kansas City Star

A $10,000 reward is now being offered for information in the search for a Johnson County College student who was reported missing Friday.

Dozens of volunteers worked throughout Sunday in the effort to find 19-year-old Aisha Khan. The search began at midday Friday when she was reported missing from the University of Kansas Edwards campus in Overland Park.

“We need everybody to be thinking about Aisha all of the time,” said her uncle Adil Sheikh, one of many out-of-town relatives who have traveled to the Kansas City area.

Late Friday morning Khan called and sent text messages to relatives saying that she had slapped an intoxicated stranger who was harassing her.

A short time later her sister who had gone to the campus at 127th Street and Quivira Road to give her a ride found her unattended book bag and cell phone.

Besides the volunteet effort, an Overland Park police spokesman said Sunday that about 30 officers were involved in the investigation.

About 15,000 flyers have been printed and volunteers have been passing them out and canvassing the neighborhoods surrounding the campus.

Khan was studying for finals at the Edwards location, but she is actually a student at Johnson County Community College.

Besides the efforts on the ground, Khan’s uncle said they are utilizing Facebook and Twitter to disseminate information. The Facebook page “Help Find Aisha Khan” had accumulated more than 5,500 “likes” as of Sunday evening.

The family is offering the reward for information leading to her whereabouts, he said.

“We are appealing for leads and cooperation from the community,” Sheikh said.

Khan is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She has brown eyes and dark brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow and black shirt, black sweat pants and a black head scarf. She may have also been wearing glasses. She was wearing a black jacket beneath a longer black and white coat.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (874-474-8477).

“They disappear without a trace. Their families exist in torturous limbo. They lay awake wondering about their loved ones’ whereabouts and condition. Terrifying thoughts come to their minds evoking tears and a jolt to their heart. Their meaning of life altered. Forever”

Since the start of the US led war on terror in 2001 hundreds of people have been illegally picked up from Pakistan. Amnesty International has stated that Pakistan has detained hundreds of alleged terror suspects without legal processes. It has been speculated that some were tortured or otherwise ill-treated, some were sold to the US military and others vanished without a trace. Some of the missing were Al-Qaeda suspects but others included innocent women and children. The families of missing persons in Pakistan have been running exhaustively in search of justice and information about their loved ones. They see no light at the end of the tunnel.

For too long us Pakistanis have remained silent as things around us spiral out of control. If you want to make a difference, it is time to stand up, be heard and be counted, for history will never forgive us for being indifferent to the plight of our people.

Join us to protest against the forced abductions of the citizens of Pakistan and demand their immediate return to the country.

‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’
– Martin Luther King, Jr.